Charles Richard Heinz

Arrived right on schedule (at least for his scheduled c-section date) at 7:55 AM on Halloween morning. He weighed in at 8 lbs. 3 ounces and was 20 1/4 inches long. He was my smallest baby and by the time he left the hospital on Monday he weighed 7 lbs. 5 ounces. He has been a great baby so far and has not been that much of a problem sleeper. He alternates between good nights and bad nights. Ben and I are adjusting to the interruptions. He hardly ever cries and is easily pacified when he does. His big brother and big sister have adapted well to Baby Charlie and have been big helps. We are looking forward to a great winter together. Hopefully I will be up and about by next week and able to do things on my own. We were grateful to have my mom and ben's mom as well as some close family friends always available to help out. Here are just a few pics for the time being.
Baby Charlie about to head home.

New baby Charlie laying on the bed.

Baby Charlie with Big Brother Connell and Big Sis Clara.

Second Half of football Season Begins

Well our stellar performance in the first half of the season with a 3-1 record has now fallen to 3-3. With two games left to go. Luckily we have an off weekend this weekend so we will get to rest for my last week at home before we add another little one. Here are some pics from last week's game. Apparently Connell could be heard from the sidelines calling one of the opposite team's members a Midget. Not sure exactly how tall Connell thinks he is. Check out how tall the kids are around Connell. It's one of my favorite parts about the game is who they put Connell next to.

The next picture is one of number 30 who Connell was up against. I handled it well and Connell held his own. My mom doesn't handle it quite as well, but that's her grandson.

I love this next picture. I like to call it Sideline Advice. Now what exactly they are discussing who knows.

The thing that I've enjoyed most about football this season is after every practice and after every game no matter the injuries, no matter the loss, you can ask Connell if he had fun and every single time his answer is yes. He might not get much playing time, but it truly doesn't matter to Connell. He's part of a team and he loves his teammates.

Fall Days

It is finally beginning to feel a little more like fall down in Mobile. Of course being nine months pregnant skews your temperature just slightly since Ben has been telling me for weeks that it is cool. I am just now feeling it. Here are a couple of pics of the kids enjoying fall activities

the tooth

There were a lot of things as a parent that I was prepared for. I knew there would be tough questions down the line that I would have to answer. I knew there would be hurt feelings, bad grades and times when I knew I would have to be stern but all I really wanted to do was laugh.
I was not prepared for what occurred tonight. I was talking on the phone when I was interrupted by hysterical screaming and sobbing. I got off the phone only to yell at connell for whatever could possibly be the reason for this outburst. I think the below picture explains it all.



Apparently Connell had bit into a hot dog only to lose his top tooth in his food. So with two weeks left in my pregnancy and not feeling that great, I was stuck digging through chewed up hotdog searching for the missing tooth, because as all parents should know, "No tooth, no money." To say that Connell was hysterical is to put it mildly. Ice, Ice Cream, TV, and Sprite did not settle him down so we drafted this letter at his request. I feel certain that the Tooth Fairy will answer his letter just not sure what the appropriate amount the Tooth Fairy will bring.

Yo Ho Ho--A Pirate's Life for Me

At Clara's 4th Birthday Party there seemed to be a recurrent theme of pirates. There were so many pirates, we decided to include some of our favorite pirate pictures from the party.




Here's the best Pirate faces of them all.

Clara's 4th Birthday Party

We celebrated Clara's 4th Birthday with a costume party at our house. We had it in our front yard and front rooms (sometimes it pays to have not bought furniture yet). We had coloring, storytime, a slide and a pinata. This is what our front yard looks like for the party and what Clara's cake looked like (made by Gigi).


Here are some pics of the Birthday girl and her guests.



Here are some pics of Clara blowing out her candles.

Halfway Point in the Season

Connell's CYO Team is halfway through their season bringing their record to 3-1 with a heartbreaking loss to St. Pius. I wanted to update with some of my favorite pictures from the first half of the season. Connell's second game was against his dad's alma mater St. Dominic's. It was a special treat, because Mimi, Joseph, Henry and Aunt Dottie made the trip to watch. Connell was chosen as one of the captains of the game. Here are some pics of him during the coin toss.


The next two pictures are what I like to refer to as the stance and the huddle.


Even Ben has gotten into the action of being a football parent. Here are a couple of pics of him participating at games both as waterboy and chain boy.


The next picture is one I like to call trash tallking. I may never know what he is saying to this St. Ignatius kid, but I can only imagine.


Stay tuned for more exciting adventures in CYO Bantam Football.

Community Helper Week

The past two weeks were Community Helper Week at Connell and Clara's school. One day Connell had to dress up in a costume as a Community Helper. Both Connell and Clara liked the police officer costume the best. Unfortunately when Clara wore the costume she resembled another kind of community helper that we are really hoping she doesn't grow up to be.

Beginning of School Days

August 12th marked Connell's first day as a big first grader. He is loving school and really enjoying being a big first grader. Clara started at her new school on August 14th and has adjusted beautifully. She loves her new teachers and makes sure she gives lots of hugs everyday before she leaves for the day. Here are some pics from their first days.

Jamboree Day--September 6th

September 6th marked the kickoff of Connell's CYO football career. Jamboree Day was held at St. Dominic's school and Connell played two practice games. They beat both St. Dominic's and St. Ignatius. Here are some pictures from those games.

Are you ready for some Football?

Connell had his first official game on September 13th against Corpus Christi. They ended up winning 22-18. He is playing offensive line for the most part. He had to go to weigh in the other day and he weighed in at 60.5 lbs. He is playing for the 2nd grade team even though he is a first grader. Let's just say unfortunately for Auburn his game was much more exciting than their "victory" over MS State. Here is the rest of his schedule for those that might want to come watch.
Sept 20th--9:45 AM--McT Front Field vs. St. Dominics
October 4th--11:00AM--McT Front field vs. St. Pius
October 11th--9:45 AM--McT front field vs. St. Ignatius
October 18th--9:45 AM--McT front field vs. Corpus Christi
October 25th--8:30 AM--McT front field vs. St. Dominics
November 8th--9:45 AM--McT front field vs. St. Pius
November 12th--5:45 PM--at the Lip vs. St. Ignatius.

I will keep everyone updated with all the adventures in football. But for now here are some pics from the game.

Swimming Advances 2

Not to be outdone by big brother, Clara made significant strides in the pool this summer as well. In the beginning of the summer she was barely getting off the steps. Then she got brave and began jumping off the side into the shallow end. By the end of the summer she was jumping off the diving board and swimming to the steps and even a few times the length of the pool.

Swim Team 2008

Connell joined the Heron Lakes Swim Team this year and in the beginning he was fairly slow. By the end of the season he was really getting the hang of it. It was amazing how much he had grown and accomplished as a swimmer by the end of the season. These are some of my favorite pictures that I took with my new camera. Notice the form.



This next pose is an Ode to Michael Phelps fans. A lot of people say he has the same physique as Michael.

This is one of my favorite backstroke pics. It was one of his favorite strokes.

At the end of the season we had a Trophy presentation for all members of the team. Connell also got the award for Most Improved Swimmer for his age group. After the Coach's comments I was almost brought to tears. Connell was the first one there everyday ready to swim. And if you would have seen him 2 years ago when he refused to get off the steps you would have known how far he's come.